PRESS RELEASE
When you see a video ad on social media, how closely do you actually look at it?
Most of us only glance at the content rather than study it with a magnifying glass but the growing use of increasingly sophisticated deepfake technology by scammers could change this.
This has been evidenced by a new scam advert running on Facebook which appears to show Australian TV presenter Allison Langdon quizzing a panel of well-known investors and ‘celebrity’ business personalities about an ‘investment’ that’s making people rich.
The video has been heavily edited using AI technology to make it appear that the people speaking, including Gina Rinehart, Dick Smith and Andrew Forrest, are either endorsing or directly involved in the new investment opportunity.
Such is the sophistication of the scam that a casual observer could easily be fooled into thinking the clip is real and respond to the ad.
However, the advert is not in any way associated with the TV show it claims to be, namely A Current Affair, which covers politics, science, business and crime.
‘High-quality scam video’
Dan Halpin, CEO of Cybertrace, Australia’s leading cyber investigations team, has created a video about the ad to warn unsuspecting investors who may be lured in.
He said: “This is a high-quality scam video which tricks victims into believing it is a genuine investment opportunity but the people shown have not really endorsed the supposed investment.
“The scammers are leveraging sophisticated technology and tricking victims through the use of deepfake videos.
“Everyone should be careful of any investment opportunity that guarantees a return as it’s probably a scam.”
Dan went on to urge anyone who spots the video to warn their family and friends to help make as many people as possible aware of this type of scam.
Scammers show an increasing level of sophistication
Adam Smith, CEO of PawProfitForum Team, said: “Image manipulation by scammers is nothing new and many personalities around the world have spoken out after seeing pictures of themselves falsely used in fake adverts.
“One of the most vocal victims is UK money guru Martin Lewis, who founded Money Saving Expert. He recently said that he held the dubious title of the ‘the most scammed face’ because of the number of times his image appeared in content promoting scam investments.
“But the level of sophistication shown in this latest ad featuring the A Current Affair show takes the scammers’ sophistication to a new level and represents a worrying trend.
“At the moment it’s still possible to spot that this is deepfake. If you study it closely there’s something of the uncanny valley about it but think where this technology will be in five years’ time?”
Education is crucial to avoiding scams
To tackle this, Adam said a two-fold approach is needed.
“Firstly, social media platforms need to do more to prevent these ads from appearing in the first place and secondly, there needs to be more widespread public information and education campaigns to warn people about responding to investment ads they see online,” continued Adam.
“Education is crucial when it comes to arming people with the knowledge needed to be able to carry out their own due diligence and spot a scam before parting with their hard-earned cash.”